Zhao Rong returned to the wilderness camp before the sun came out.

After resting for a quarter of an hour, Qian'er arrived on time and brought him early morning breakfast.

After eating, Zhao Rong went out.

Originally, he had planned to take Xiao Qian'er and Su Qingdai up the mountain to enjoy the scenery along the way, but he was too busy today. He had to make final preparations before the Fengshan ceremony, and also had to welcome the arrival of a certain old-fashioned woman.

So he had to give up and let Qian'er and Su Qingdai stay in the tent. However, Zhao Rong was afraid that the two girls would quarrel again, so he assigned them special tasks.

Qian'er read the Book of Songs, and Su Qingdai continued to read the Mo Sutra, both of which were beneficial to the two girls' realms... He turned around and wanted to **.

Zhao Rong took Li Bai with him and went to find Gu Yiwu and other students of Justice Hall.

Everyone gathered together, got ready, and headed towards Jiyue Mountain.

Also accompanying him were many officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works.

On the road, Zhao Rong and Gu Yiwu took the lead and walked in front. The latter looked up at the clear and crisp autumn sky and said:

"Tzuyu, in the past few days, my classmates and I have sent officials from the Ministry of Works to build an altar on the top of Jiyue Mountain according to the arrangement you made earlier... We also set up a site on a small hill to the east of the foot of Jiyue Mountain to build a second altar."

Zhao Rong nodded, and seeing that some students looked puzzled, he patiently explained:

"Fengshan. The so-called 'feng' means offering sacrifices to heaven and repaying heaven's merits. The so-called 'ji' means offering sacrifices to the earth and promoting the earth's virtues."

He squinted his eyes and looked at the top of the Moon Festival Mountain in the distance. "Although we don't know what the ancient ritual of Fengshan is, it should be correct that Fengshan requires the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Earth."

Gu Yiwu nodded, "Good."

Zhao Rong turned around and asked, "Is the second altar ready?"

Gu Yiwu immediately said, "We have been working day and night and have completed 90% of it. It will be finished today."

Zhao Rong warned: "Don't rush for quick results, follow the plan and process I gave you."

Gu Yiwu took out a hiking stick, spun it in his hand, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Ziyu, I'm supervising you, don't worry."

"OK."

Zhao Rong glanced at the stick waving in his hand, said nothing, and nodded:

"Let's go to the Temple of Earth first."

Zhao Rong led everyone to a small hill on the east side of the foot of Jiyue Mountain.

This mountain is heavily guarded and is surrounded by Dali soldiers.

On the top of the mountain, a brand new Altar of Ditan has been built and is about to be completed. Dozens of officials from the Ministry of Works are supervising the craftsmen building the altar.

Gu Yiwu walked in front and introduced Zhao Rong:

"Zi Yu, according to the plan you gave me, this altar is 12 feet wide and 9 feet high, with three levels, surrounded by the five altars of blue, red, white, black, and yellow, and sealed with five-colored soil..."

Zhao Rong listened, squinted his eyes for a while, and nodded slightly:

"Is this mountain good for placing rare animals and birds? It's used to symbolize good fortune."

Gu Yiwu nodded, "I have already done as you ordered. I have almost emptied half of the Dali treasury. All the spiritual medicines and spiritual beasts that Dali has have been placed on this mountain. This is already a treasure mountain."

The burly scholar smiled and pointed down the mountain with his hiking stick. "Look at those troops. I think Dugu is worried and has left a lot of her belongings here. When I informed her of this before, she hesitated for a moment before agreeing. I guess she thought we were taking advantage of the situation to get something for free."

In response to his friend's joke, Zhao Rong just smiled and didn't respond.

He turned around and looked at the hill, and said loudly:

"Tomorrow morning, your Majesty will first perform a Zen ceremony to offer sacrifices to the earth... Wearing a bright yellow dress, you will first climb this auspicious mountain and play solemn music. At the same time, we will kill white deer, pigs, white yaks and other sacrifices. Your Majesty will climb this five-colored earth altar and kneel down to perform a great ceremony. At that time, as the host, I will read the Book of Praise and announce the merits of leaving the court to the earth..."

The young scholar paused, turned around and said, "By the way, can the Jade Book that records the merits be buried under this altar? This is of utmost importance."

Gu Yiwu nodded on behalf of the other students, "I personally supervised the process last night."

Zhao Rong breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the curious crowd, and explained a certain "ritual":

"It is not enough for me to just read the imperial edict. It is just a formality, read to the hundreds of officials and the people who are watching. The young emperor wants to perform a Zen ceremony to worship the earth, to have a dialogue with the earth. In terms of etiquette, I choose to bury a jade book in the soil, which records the merits of Dali, as a "show" to the earth."

Gu Yiwu was a little emotional: "This etiquette is easy to understand. Well, Tzuyu is really good and has many methods."

At this time, a student nearby joked, "Mr. Zhao, it seems that this land is indeed spiritual. It would be convenient to communicate if it knows our human language."

The students around smiled and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

However, Zhao Rong did frown slightly.

He looked at the Altar of Earth in front of him that he had designed.

After a moment, he sighed softly.

Although Zhao Rong is the most proficient in etiquette among all the students, he is actually not very confident.

The communication ceremony between the 'Emperor of the World' and the 'Earth', which he presented with a buried jade book, was actually a moderate act.

The main reason was that he couldn't think of any better way. Could he let the little emperor learn the language of the Earth? A conversation in gibberish?

Uh, this scene is outrageous just thinking about it...

And this, together with the "Ceremony of Communicating with the Earth", is one of the two core ceremonies of the entire Fengshan Ceremony in Zhao Rong's process arrangement.

Another great gift is the "Gift of Communicating with Heaven".

That is what happened at the end of the Fengshan Ceremony, at the Temple of Heaven on the top of Jiyue Mountain...

"Fengshan... Feng... repaying the merits of heaven; Chan... repaying the merits of earth... How can we communicate better..."

The young scholar murmured.

After a while, he came to his senses and shook his head.

The Fengshan Ceremony will be held tomorrow morning. It is useless to hesitate or overthink now. The most taboo thing when doing things is to change your mind at the last minute... Zhao Rong said secretly.

Afterwards, he took students such as Gu Yiwu and other officials around Ditan Park for a few rounds. After checking that everything was fine, he led everyone away.

The group traveled westward and climbed up the Jiyue Mountain.

On the mountain road, Zhao Rong gave instructions from time to time and arranged:

"Tomorrow morning, after offering sacrifices at the Altar of Earth, Your Majesty will travel westwards up the mountain. Your Majesty will ride on a cattail cart with cattails wrapped around the wheels to avoid damaging the vegetation, soil and rocks on the mountain..."

"We are Confucian scholars assisting in the Fengshan ceremony. We must follow closely behind His Majesty's carriage and not step beyond it. I have already explained the specific etiquette to you all. Go back and review it carefully tonight..."

Gu Yiwu and other students nodded in agreement.

About two hours later, Zhao Rong and others finally arrived at the top of Jiyue Mountain with their sleeves fluttering, braving the autumn sun and against the mountain wind.

Zhao Rong looked at the scene in front of him and raised his eyebrows slightly.

He originally thought that as a holy place off the earth, there should be many architectural relics left by the ancestors on the top of Jiyue Mountain.

Especially the ancient Li clan.

As far as he knew, the Li people revered the mountains and the bright moon. In the Li land, there were many relics left in the mountains or in places where the moonlight was the brightest.

For example, not long ago, Zhao Rong and his companions stayed at Xingzi Lake in Xingzi Town, where there was an ancient monument and a galaxy path...

However, at this moment, the first thing that caught Zhao Rong's eye was... also a lake.

Or it could be called Tianchi or something like that.

This is a lake located on the top of the highest peak above the ground. The water is deep and azure blue, with no bottom visible. It seems extremely pure and has a diameter of about one mile.

However, this lake is in the shape of a half moon.

Thus, the other half of the open space on the top of the mountain was empty space.

The open space is desolate and there are no buildings, which complements the crescent-shaped lake.

The top of the mountain is roughly circular in shape.

And right in the center of this "round mountain top", there stands an ancient tree about ten meters high, with its roots half in the ground and half near the water, like a dividing line between a lake and an open space.

This tree seems to be a tree struck by lightning. There is not a single green leaf on the tree. The whole tree is charred black. The core of the tree has been hollowed out, leaving a huge tree hole.

It was called a tree, but from Zhao Rong's position, it looked like a dead tree stuck in the water's edge.

This scenery is somewhat strange and mysterious.

But Zhao Rong didn't understand Feng Shui, so he couldn't tell. As for whether to ask Xiagui for help... He was a night owl now...

At this time, the top of Jiyue Mountain was quite lively.

With Xianyue Li Nu on duty nearby, Zhao Rong saw the plump female official Fengyi from the Music Bureau at a glance.

Well, of course it wasn’t just because of her good figure, but because she seemed to be the first to notice their arrival and came to greet them.

In addition, the ceremonial officials and craftsmen from the Ministry of Works sent by Zhao Rong and Gu Yiwu were building a high altar not far from the lightning-struck wood. They were working hard and it seemed that the project was about to be completed.

Xuecan came with a group of crescent moon girls.

As if she noticed Zhao Rong's curious gaze, the plump woman smiled softly and explained:

"Mr. Zhao, that lake is called Yuetan. I heard that it is longer than the life span of the previous dynasty..."

Zhao Rong nodded and glanced at Xuecan who had secretly arranged for the dragon coffin to be placed in the mausoleum last night.

She looked kind, no longer as cold and indifferent as she was last night, as if she was not the one who buried a living person.

Zhao Rong didn't look at it for long. He turned his eyes away and looked at the piece of lightning-struck wood.

Xuecan then patiently introduced himself to Zhao Rong and others.

The latter listened carefully and nodded from time to time.

Just at this moment.

Suddenly, a gray light appeared in the distant sky.

Gu Yiwu said, "Ziyu, someone is coming."

Zhao Rong and the others stopped talking and looked up.

In the blink of an eye, the gray light had landed on the open space in front of everyone.

And at this time, the sound of breaking through the air finally came.

Many of the ordinary officials who were accompanying them were so frightened that they fell to the ground subconsciously. The sound was indeed a bit like a meteor falling to the ground.

However, this gray light landed lightly without even a speck of dust being stirred up.

The visitor was a middle-aged woman wearing a Confucian robe. Her clothes were old-fashioned and there were deep nasolabial lines on her cheeks.

She stood there with her hands held high, motionless, like a rigid statue.

If not Meng Zhengjun, then who is it?

Zhao Rong and Gu Yiwu looked at each other and walked forward.

"Mr. Meng."

The two of them took the lead, and the people of Dali, such as Xuecan, who were around them, followed suit and saluted. It was obvious that they knew the gentleman from the academy who had originally agreed to help Dali with the Fengshan ceremony.

Meng Zhengjun returned the greeting in a serious manner, then straightened his back and asked Xuechan and the other girls, "

"How are Empress Dowager Dugu and the young emperor these days?"

Xuecan said sincerely, "Thank you Mr. Meng for your concern. Your Majesty and His Majesty are doing well and are in good health. It's just that they often think of Mr. Meng after meals and before going to bed every day. Your Majesty and His Majesty admire him very much... But Mr. Meng is here in person today. When your Majesty and His Majesty know about it, they will be very happy."

"There's no need to be like that. I'm just a scholar, what is there for me to worry about?" Meng Zhengjun shook his head.

She suddenly turned her head and asked directly, "You have been in Dali for many days. Have you been rude to me?"

At this moment, the old-fashioned female teacher from the academy seemed to remember Zhao Rong and others and spoke to them.

Zhao Rong calmly met her sharp gaze, with a thoughtful look on his face. He thought for a moment:

"It seems not...Brother Yiwu, have you done anything disrespectful?"

Gu Yiwu quickly shook his head, "No, no."

Zhao Rong turned around and asked the other students of Justice Hall curiously, "My fellow students, have you ever been disrespectful?"

"No……"

"How dare I..."

"We must abide by the rules of the academy..."

The Confucian scholars all talked at once.

Zhao Rong nodded and said to the expressionless Meng Zhengjun sincerely: "Mr. Meng, I'm not being rude, don't worry."

The old-fashioned woman glanced at him and said, "Oh, that's them, what about you?"

Zhao Rong's smiling face suddenly froze, and he asked in a serious tone, "Mr. Meng, are you still not confident in me?"

Meng Zhengjun: “…”

Gu Yiwu and other students: "..."

The latter couldn't help but cast admiring glances at the young Confucian scholar.

They secretly breathed a sigh of relief: As expected of Tzuyu, she directly made fun of this old woman, but we only dared to call her old woman in our hearts... Perhaps, this is what a strong person is.

"Okay, very good."

At this time, the old-fashioned woman who had been staring at the young Confucian scholar for a while lowered her head, patted her sleeves, put her hands behind her back, looked at Zhao Rong, and nodded slightly.

Xue Chan and others who were observing carefully from the side initially thought that there was a rift between the teachers and students in their academy when they saw Meng Zhengjun ignore Zhao Rong and Gu Yiwu as soon as he arrived.

At this moment, they nodded quietly without knowing what was going on: It turned out that Mr. Zhao and Mr. Meng had a good relationship in private, and could make such a joke, but Mr. Meng seemed to be a little reluctant to let go of his teacher's airs in front of outsiders. Yes, Mr. Meng seemed to have a cold personality on the outside but a warm heart on the inside...

As if sensing that the gazes from others were becoming increasingly unnatural, Meng Zhengjun frowned slightly, waved his sleeves, and said directly:

"You students, continue to be busy. Don't worry about me, your teacher. You still have one day. Start the assessment on time tomorrow morning and help the young emperor of Dali to offer sacrifices to the gods!"

After she finished speaking, without waiting for Zhao Rong, Gu Yiwu and the others to respond, she walked to the edge of the cliff with her hands behind her back and squinted her eyes to look at the magnificent scenery below the mountain.

It seems that he no longer cares about them.

Zhao Rong and Gu Yiwu exchanged glances.

After a moment.

The young scholar shrugged.

Afterwards, he continued to tell the students about the arrangements for the heavenly sacrifice at the Temple of Heaven the next morning.

Not far from them, a prim and prudish woman stood on the edge of the cliff with a stern face.

The howling mountain wind couldn't blow even a strand of her hair.

Meng Zhengjun glanced at a small hill east of Jiyue Mountain that was full of spiritual creatures and beasts, and the completed Ditan Temple on the hill.

It seemed as if she could see clearly what was going on even though it was far away.

"Oh."

The corners of the prim female gentleman's lips twitched.

"Mr. Meng."

However, at this moment, a young Confucian scholar not far away suddenly called out to her.

The female teacher of the academy frowned slightly and asked coldly, "What's the matter?"

"Um... could you please stand further away?" The young scholar said with a somewhat embarrassed tone, "I have something to show everyone on this cliff, and you are blocking my position."

“……!!!”Meng Zhengjun.

After a while, the female teacher from the academy walked away...